I'm DMing a custom campaign (This is the first one I've ever done), and my players seem almost boring, they tell me they love the adventure but they are very straight forward with the adventure and I'd love for them to be alot more imaginitive. How do I help them do that without looking pushy?
Also, every single player wants to be the sterotype of the "awesome elf who is a bad***", is there any way I can get the party to not play every anime trope in existance or am I just being overly controlling? idk. Please help.
Could you provide some examples of what things they are doing and what you'd rather them do instead? It's unclear what you mean by you wanting them to be "more imaginative," outside of avoiding anime tropes.
The most basic and effective solution for this sort of thing, in any case, is clearly communicating your wishes to the players in a direct, polite way and then asking for their help in making it happen. But if you provide us with some examples of what you're talking about, we might be able to give more specific advice.
Without specifics, it's hard to give you direct answers. However, as a general answer, I have found that a good way to encourage creativity and imagination in your players is to help them out and give them examples.
Most of my group are players who are fairly new to D&D. When we first started playing, I would give them hints in certain encounters to help them think about different things they could try. I found that their lack of creativity was directly tied to their inexperience. They didn't try different things because they didn't really know what they could try. I tried to build encounters that would reward their creativity, and then helped them find those solutions to the encounter. Eventually, they picked up the idea, and now as a group they are able to easily think outside the box and come up with strategies and different approaches to every encounter without my prompting.
Give them guidaince by saying things like:
"You know, instead of ________ you could also _________________"
"Why don't you try something like ____________"
"A good thing your characters might want to think about right now is ___________"
"Don't forget that you can _____________"
Be gentle as you guide them.
I try to always be clear to my players that I am rewarding their creative choices, and good roleplaying. I think if your players notice that they are being rewarded for being clever, they may feel more compelled to be creative.
Are they new to the game? If so, don't be too hard on them if they lack imagination. They'll get better as time goes on.
Here are two tups to push it along:
1) it was already suggested that you use rewards. The Inspiration mechanic is great for that. Award it for being really creative, and they'll get more creative.
2) Be an imaginative & descriptive DM. Be real descriptive with rooms, NPCs, effects, etc. Have the monsters & NPCs do fancy tactics, use items in the room, attack from high ground or at various angles, and do amazing escapes. Throw more classed NPCs at them: rogues with sneak attacks, hulking fighter Battle Masters, ki-powered monks, etc. show them the possibilities.
Eventually they'll get it.
One thing I've found over the years is that players who are generally video gamers and players who are readers tend to have very different imaginations. Those inspired by video games or movies/anime aren't accustomed to using their imagination - someone else does that for them. So their ideas tend to be very specific and inspired by the creations of other people. Readers, however, have trained that creative muscle and are much better at putting themselves into a scene.
As mentioned before, newer players will always have a harder time being creative because they're not used to it. All of the previous advice has been good, but I do have another suggestion I've learned over the years.
Ask the players to describe minor parts of the scene. For example, if they win a stuffed toy at a fair, ask them what the toy looks like. If you're describing a painting above the fireplace of the lords manor, ask one of them what the painting is of. If a bard is playing tell one of them that the song is very moving and ask them why. Let them start thinking for themselves and filling out the scene. These are all minor elements of the story but you'll be surprised to hear what they may come up with, and often I jot down notes to use some of their ideas later. I also try to help them out, for example "The dwarf offers you a bottle of wine from his cellar. What's the name of the wine you pick?" and after they come up with something you can add "Oh yes, quite an exotic taste. A sampling of pear and a sweetness not common in these parts. You have a keen eye for quality.". This will make them feel their contribution was significant, and you reward them for being creative at the same time.
Give them guidaince by saying things like:"You know, instead of ________ you could also _________________"
"Why don't you try something like ____________"
"A good thing your characters might want to think about right now is ___________"
"Don't forget that you can _____________"
A unique set of NPCs can set an example of where you wish to take your players. They can be the ones suggesting ideas as well so it doesn't come off as the DM telling the players what to do...until your players get the idea that is. Also if your players are adhering to some anime arch types then thats what they want to play, go with it, try and bend your own ideas in that direction a bit. Give them that style of play instead of fighting it. Blend your own story elements with their "fantasy" and you will have something unique and fun for both your players and yourself.
As Madkingstow mentioned above, asking players to describe an object or small scene once in a while might draw them into the narrative. Check out Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave sessions to see how he does it.
Another way to engage players is to have npcs speak directly to specific pc's to get them to respond.
Both of these techniques help engage players, but they don't necessarily encourage creative decision-making or risktaking. For encouraging those aspects, remember to say "yes" to many of their ideas. Give them chances to succeed at strange maneuvers or tasks (if it is really out there you can set DC at 20 or 25, but still give them the chance).
A lot of times people won't be creative if they don't feel safe/comfortable. Try to engender a "no wrong decision" atmosphere. Let everyone know that creating an interesting story that has spectacular moments is more important than optimizing. Play monsters and npcs the same way.
Rya.Reisender wrote:
A few things I use that seem to help indireclty. (Should note, pretty sure I got all of these direclty or indireclty from Iserith)
1) Players don't ask questions: The PCs do things that may lead to information. Example: Player saying "How many doors are there?" is unwanted, instead Player says "PC looks around room for all possible exits."
2) Players don't roll without prompting. They don't decide to make an arcana/perception/stealth/etc check... the player describes what the PC is doing and the DM *may* call for a skill check
3) Have the players describe the PC before the game. Not only things the other PCs will know, but things they may suspect but can't be sure about. Also let them create some background/current relationships with each other.
These things let the fictional world feel more 'real' and keep the players interacting with the fiction of the world, instead of looking at the game as a big puzzle to solve. I have found this increases the comfort level and creative thinking.
If the root of the problem is "lack of imagination", then ask your players to do some homework: read 1 FR novel before next week's session, or watch 1 Star Wars movie, or whatever, and bring in something they want to work into the campaign somehow.
- Darth Sidious for the next BBEG.
- I wanna change my background to "sailor" so I can swoop ships like Han Solo.
- That "Cormyr" place sounds interesting, let's visit.
- Dune's Fremen are bad---es too, can I be one of them? Can I join them?
Just before a Tiamat session where the group had to deal with a political council, I had my PCs watch a bill being debated on C-SPAN, so they could see what I was narrating the substance of - and why it took 3 days to get a decision.
One thing you can do to spark players' imaginations is to have your NPCs or the bad guys do something creative...
Anything that causes the party to go, "Hey, that was awesome!" will stick with them and if a similar situation comes up they may well recall what happened before and decide to try it or something similar themselves. Make sure you give them things to interact with, particularly things that have nothing to do with the main point of the current scene or the larger adventure. If somebody in the local market place happens to spill some lamp oil while they're walking past and it accidentally catches fire (maybe it's evenlarge enough that they need the party's help to put it out, or it's especially memorable because the whole market burned down), then later on down the road if you put a large jar of lamp oil in a room, you may just spark their memories and someone will think to themselves, "Hey, that stuff catches fire" - and may decide to do something with that at some later point even if there's no purpose to them doing it right now. Seeing NPCs casting non-combat spells may cause them to want to acquire those spells. Etc., etc...
When giving suggestions for things the players might want to do, include generic suggestions, random suggestions and things that don't make any sense at all so you're not obviously "leading" them... Asking them if they want to set the tapestries on fire or carve their name into the desk while the wizard is out of the room won't give them any real hints as to the direction they should go, but may well inspire them to do something else because they were subtly influenced to think outside the box...
And, if there actually is something going on involving either the desk or the tapestries, you've just put those two objects in their mind and they may decide to take a closer look at them, maybe even search them...
I've been trying for 25 years to get my friends to be more creative, more imaginative in my games. Sometimes nothing you do works. 
In addition, while I haven't done any kind of scientific study, it seems to me from playing with newer folks that many players raised on MMO's and console games tend to be much more linear in their gameplay thinking. I attribute that to the naturally restrictive nature of programmed games. You could be running into that as well, or you may just have (as is the case with my oldest gaming pals) enthusiastic but unimaginative players.
A lot relies on your framing of a scene, encounter, interaction, room, trap, puzzle, etc. Have the baddies make dramatic entrances, swinging from chanaliers, leaping from rooftops, flipping over cover, etc. As a DM ask a lot of questions. Force the players to describe things by shinging the spotlight on them and asking quetions. For example, a player moves, attacks, and kills a target. Bleh. Boring. If the players aren't actively describing these actions with flavor, ask them after the roll is resloved, to describe what it looked like.
I usually frame it something like this: "Ok, your blow kills the Orc. Tell me what that scene just looked like; tell me how it died."
The player's usually then describe something like "I run up, smash it with my hammer, crushing it's skull."
At this point, I may make them describe it further by making them elaborate on something they already said, for example, "Ah ok, that's great! So did he run up to the orc? Leap through the air? Tumble up to it? Dash? Or stalk with deliberate steps?" By engaging the player, and asking these questions, by forcing them to really imagine the scene, and giving them a few chances to continue adding flavor to the fiction, it helps get the "creative juices flowing." After a while, the players will just start describing these things on their own.
Use this principal for everything the players do. "I look for traps," is increidbly boring. "I search for loot" is a yawnfest. "I roll XYZ" is the worst offender. By asking questions, and continuing to ask question until the player has fully fleshed out their actions and methods, you are helping your players think and engage.
"Ok, you want to look for traps. What does that look like? How does she go about looking?" The players now have to come up with something. I expect, especially if your players are not used to having to actually imagine the world their characters ocupy outside of the abstract numbers, that their first answers will be something like, "Errrr....uh...I check the floor and the walls." Time for more questions. Get the players used to adding to the fiction and building off each other's input. This is a great place to start training them to do that. "Ok, you are checking the floors and walls. Describle to me *how* she is checking. Is she just using her eyes? Crawling on hands and knees? Using a magnifying glass? Maybe she is pouring small amounts of water or flour onto surfaces, checking for hidden doors, switchplates, or tripwires? Is she using a 10' pole to check ahead of her? Is she touching every stone?" That "question" is loaded with inspiration to help show the player different ways they can interact. Don't be surprised if they just say "yes" when you say something they like. But keep building off it. "Ok, so she is using a magnafying glass to inspect her surroundings, describe to me the make up of the floors and walls. Are they wood? Stone? Dirt? Is there anything else like rugs, curtains, candles, runes, or artwork in this room?" As a DM, keep asking questions as long as it feels appropriate.
Back to framing. The better your frame a situation, the more likely a player is to engage in creativity. Use your baddies to demostrate things that players can also do. Have them grapple, leap, swing from chandaliers, shove players, trip players, throw bowls of buring hot soup at the players. Get super creative here. The players gears should start turning as no one want to be surrounded by badasses doing badass things while they just sit there and "swing my sword again."
Lastly, don't forget to reframe and reset the stake throughout the course of a round of combat. I generally find that if anything has changed in the combat, that it helps to spend a few seconds reframing the scene for the next player in initiative. For example in my last session of LMoP, the PCs were in a pretty important combat with quite a few important NPCs and Baddies in the fight. After a few players had acted, I landed on a player whom is playing the Dwarf Cleric with the bond to Gundren. By the time the initiative got to this player, quite a bit had changed since the scene was first framed, even though only half the party had acted so far, so I took the time to reframe and reset the stakes.
Something like this: (PC's character name is Gurtis, female dwarven cleric.)
"Gurtis, you allies are engaged with King Grol and a band of Hobgoblins. A lone dark elf enemy fights to free hiself from the Navaria's web (wizard PC), shouting curses in a forign tongue, if he frees himself, he will surely flee and be lost to the party. Your good friend has suffered a grievious wound, and lays bleeding on the flagstones. Gundren, your cousin lays uncouncious and bleeding, his labored breathing telling you in no uncertain terms that he cannot survive much longer without aid. If that isn't enough, Cora (the party rogue) has been backed into a corner by a Bugbear and a pair of Hobgoblins with no way to escape, and is looking pretty desperate. What do you do?"
This really sets the scene and the stakes. It makes the player choice interesting and meaningful. What the hell does she do? So many places in this fight she was needed. Does she help the downed ally, whom had already failed 1 death saving throw? Does she help the NPC Gundren, a very important person to this character, someone she has been searching for relentlessly for the entire campaign? Does she deal with the Drow elf? Someone she thought at the time to be the Black Spider, the person responsible for all the Bad Things Happening. Does she help the outnumbered and out gunned Rogue whom surely will not survive another round alone? Holy crap. So much at stake. This almost forces creativity.
Here again, I took the time to ask more questions and reframe. "Ok, so you want to rush to the aide of your downed ally, curing his wounds and getting him back in the fight. Are you prepared to deal with the fact that that action may lead to your cousin's death? Are you ready to accept that the enemy you have been hunting may escape? How does Gurtis *feel* about their situation? Describe to me why she chose that route. How will she feel if the Rouge dies after she chose to help the ally whom may already be lost? What is she runs out of resources?
During the game I didn't ask *all* of those, but those are questions that ran through my mind as she was describing what she wanted to do and why, and I tossed a few out there. Beyond the creativity, using this method of DMing, my players (All of which are new to the game btw!) are heavily invested in the campaign, in their characters, and the role they play in the party. They can't wait for their turn, often answering questions that weren't actually asked outloud, having grown so accustomed to me "forcing" them to describe these things. For example, in the scenerio above, Gurtis told me, with no prompting, that while she would be devistated to lose her cousin, she wouldn't have gotten this far without her ally, and she owed it to him to try and save his life, after risking his own for the people of Phandalin, and for her cousin. Awesome. Proud DM moment right there.
Sorry about the long winded response, but there is a lot to this game, and my favorite parts are the creativity, the fiction, the story telling, and the sense of adventure that comes from a game that isn't chained to a program or a script. This is a game of imagination, and that is what makes it so wonderful, exciting, and fun.
Hope some of that helps you help your players lol.
Cheers
I second the part about reframing a scene. Often players will forget what you just described, or maybe they weren't paying enough attention. So don't be afraid to repeat some information. You can even rephrase it if you like.
And yes, ask them how they do things. For example, the Rogue wants to check the chest for traps. "How do you check the chest for traps?"
Its so boring if you just make them role a die, and thats it. Ask them for details, and they'll get into it.
For example,
The rogue answers that he'll carefully look under the lid for hidden mechanisms. So next you could describe what he discovers:
DM: "As you raise the lid slightly, you can feel a device being armed. You stop just short of it clicking. You have only opened the lid a tiny bit, and it is too dark to see the mechanism yet. How do you proceed?"
Rogue: "I ask for a candle, so I can shed some light on the mechanism."
DM: "The light of the candle allows you to see the subtle glimmer of some metal coils and wires inside the chest. It looks like it is set to fire something from the chest, as soon as the lid is pulled open far enough."
Rogue: "Can I jam it?"
DM: "You can try. Roll a die."
^ Just an example.
Coredump00 wrote:
1.) Ignore any/all advice about Wil Wheaton.
2.) Ignore advice/insight about readers, gamers, younger, or older players. It's waffle.
3.) Get on board with the concept that the players get to portray their characters the way they wish. That's their part in this game - to live out their fantasy avatar doing stuff. Even if they are goal-oriented and focused (or as some people call them 'unimaginative' & trained to expect linearity and restrictive boundaries), it's on them to be who they want to be. As DM, you must let go of what you want their characters to do (except in the case of disruptive players or defective adventurers).
4.) Offer meaningful choices. A decision to act should get something at the expense of something else. Every decision should be meaningful, or it's not worth making.
5.) Identify goals; place obstacles between the adventurers and their goals.
6.) Bake. Role playing is a skill and a relationship. Trust builds over time, comfort and familiarity too. Let growth happen in its own course. You cannot force it.
Using inspiration is good.
Combat-wise, putting features that they can take advantage of, like wobbly pillars and chandeliers to swing on. If they don’t get the idea, have the enemies use them – they’ll get the idea to do the same eventually.
I’m also a big fan of off-loading creative elements onto the players. Asking them to describe an item works well. As mentioned before, Wil Wheaton does a lot of this on Titansgrave. I’ll concur on the recommendation. I’ve also started letting my PCs describe their critical hits and the killing blows on important monsters. They’ve really started getting into it.
I also find it useful to put challenges that can’t be solved by just rolling a single die, problems that require teamwork and creativity.
As far as them all wanting to play Legolas Do’Urden, I wouldn’t stress out too much at first. Yes, it gets tiresome always running for the same exact type of character, but if that’s what they enjoy playing, they shouldn’t be penalized for it. You can also use pure role-playing scenes to try to tease out some greater depths as well.
Another way to encourage more creative actions is to make sure you describe "usable" features powerfully.
In one of the designer live streams (either Mike Mearls or Rodney Thompson, I can't remember) the DM even used index cards/tents to remind players of the features that could possibly be used for interesting maneuvers or actions. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but the point is to make the features stand out so that the players think about how they can use them to their advantage.
Have NPCs attempting the style of creative actions you would like to inspire in your players. If you want to see swashbuckling then have NPCs cutting down chandeliers and swing in on ropes. When PCs attempt to do creative things don't be overly punative. Just because something is old hat to you doesn't mean it is for them. Human, elves, dwarves, halfings & drow are all equally cliche to a relatively new player.